Chroniq Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I'll just leave this here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Clinksalot Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 There have already been rumors about moving the entrance to the tour to the Lower Lot, so it's conceivable that the area where it sits now could be used. I mean, they already loaded the tram for the Kong thing during HHN down there, the entire JP overflow queue is NEVER used. It really wouldn't be that hard to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 They literally just remodeled the entire tram plaza/queue. I don't see it moving. Not to mention the road on which they loaded the kong express is the main around the front lot. They only were able to load trams down there because there was no studio traffic due to it being after business hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSum1_55 Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I won't even get into how we also couldn't find an open drink stand to buy a diet coke, since the only open drinks were either right the front of the park, or Potterland (which isn't allowed to sell Coca-Cola products), and ended up having to buy a drink from a gift shop, because there weren't any other open drink stands in the park. in 1999 - 2008, the park was never like this. It's a real shame, because I personally would rank IOA as the "DisneySea of the USA", and after my last few visits, it was starting to feel like Six Flags had taken over operations. What seems ironic to me is how Busch and Universal's operations seem to be getting worse as time goes on, but Six Flags has been getting better over the past few years. Even Disney seems to have gone downhill a bit. If the trend continues at this rate, we may soon be saying "Gee, I really wish Universal were run by Six Flags!" In fact, Six Flags might be on its way to becoming the second most efficient American theme park chain. That is just sad. Five years ago, people would have laughed out loud at this post. Now, it might just come true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Clinksalot Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 ^^ Good point. But again, something tells me that if they have to move stuff around to fit HP there, it will be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Someotherguyuser Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Tuesday morning. Keep your eyes open. That's all I'm going to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chroniq Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Wednesday morning. Take a nap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce532 Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 There have already been rumors about moving the entrance to the tour to the Lower Lot, so it's conceivable that the area where it sits now could be used. I mean, they already loaded the tram for the Kong thing during HHN down there, the entire JP overflow queue is NEVER used. It really wouldn't be that hard to do. Didn't the Studio Tour entrance use to be in the Lower Lot? I think Jurassic Park's queue use to be the queue for the Tour (hence why it is so dull), or I could be wrong. Then they moved the tour up to the upper lot when they built Jurassic Park. But yeah like what was just mentioned, they just finished remodeling the current queue area. And actually I think they are still working on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 ^Tram loading was where the ATV shuttle is now. You can still see some of the paint on the ground. Queue area was the land that became JP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 ^^ If we go based off of a quote from Screamscape, the executives in charge could probably care less whether or not they just refurbished the tram station if it gets in the way of USH's potterland. At this point, it could really go anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COASTER FREAK 11 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Tomorrow, we will know for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Yup! TPR will be at the press conference tomorrow morning, which will include the president of Universal, president of Warner Bros, and the Governor of California. The press invite says "The event will highlight an array of news that will have significant impact on the Southern California economy, job creation and tourism industry. Even more exciting news will also be revealed." Keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook feed tomorrow morning starting at 11:00am PST! Twitter: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/themeparkreview Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalCoasters Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I've changed my mind. No matter what the cost, SoCal could use a few more absolutely stellar attractions to compete with our FL counterparts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Whatever your thoughts are on Potter, this will be good for the entire region. Potter will force the other parks to step up their game in a big way to stay competitive. In particular, imagine that after seeing the results from Orlando, Disney won't stand by idly this time and let Harry Potter steal their thunder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatle11 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 ^Yeah, that's a good point. I'm really not a fan of Potter but it would definitely be good if we saw Disney come back with something big as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MagicMountainMan Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Man I'm really excited. THIS will definitely make a big splash and I can't wait to see how everybody else responds! This could potentially overshadow Carsland, which was built to be the "Potter killer". Well, more competition means a better end product for the consumer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COASTER FREAK 11 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 ^I don't think it will overshadow Cars Land cause that opens this summer. This would probably open in two more years, so the newness of Cars Land would be more subdued by then. I really think that Disney will need to have something else to battle this. Relying on "We already have something good enough" is how UNI got one up on them in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Relying on "We already have something good enough" is how UNI got one up on them in the first place. Wait, what am I missing? How did Universal get the 'one up' on Disney!? Potterdump is great and everything but WDW still shits all over Uni with money and guests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Relying on "We already have something good enough" is how UNI got one up on them in the first place. Wait, what am I missing? How did Universal get the 'one up' on Disney!? Potterdump is great and everything but WDW still shits all over Uni with money and guests. Um, yeah, judging by the crowds at Universal Orlando yesterday versus the crowds at Walt Disney World yesterday, I don't think Universal one-uped anyone...other than themselves!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COASTER FREAK 11 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Um, yeah, judging by the crowds at Universal Orlando yesterday versus the crowds at Walt Disney World yesterday, I don't think Universal one-uped anyone...other than themselves!!! HAHAHA, that might be true. Maybe im wrong here, but wasn't there a comparison or an earning report put out that showed that UNI Vs. Disney people where choosing UNi because of Harry Potter, or no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Um, yeah, judging by the crowds at Universal Orlando yesterday versus the crowds at Walt Disney World yesterday, I don't think Universal one-uped anyone...other than themselves!!! HAHAHA, that might be true. Maybe im wrong here, but wasn't there a comparison or an earning report put out that showed that UNI Vs. Disney people where choosing UNi because of Harry Potter, or no? Not that I've ever seen or heard of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAL Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 ^I believe Coaster Freak is thinking about a report on revenue and / or attendance growth, which naturally showed huge year over year gains for Universal Orlando while Disney showed little change. That doesn't change the fact that if those flat Disney results are still 10 or 20 times (or whatever - I'm making numbers up now) Universal's, in actual terms Disney dominates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chroniq Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 While there has to be a percentage of visitors that choose WDW over UNI because of Harry Potter, Disney still managed to have great attendance and revenue gains this year (in a much more macro way than Universal because the attendance is that much higher). I'm thinking the number of people that would have gone to WDW but instead decided to go to UNi over the past 2 years is somewhere around 5 percent. I also think a good percentage of the people that flew down to Orlando to visit Harry Potter this year decided to add a few days at WDW to their stay.. “We welcome Harry Potter to Central Florida,” said Michael Griffin, a Disney vice president. “Because experience has shown us that any new offering in this market helps draw additional visitors to our resort.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmicha Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 ^Although obviously not an accurate cross section of the population of people visiting Orlando, that sounds very similar to what I've seen from people I know. The Disney families/groups still went to Disney but often added a day trip to Universal Studios. I did notice, however, a TON of people (mostly college students) that visited Orlando for the first time for the sole purpose of visiting Harry Potter and the vast majority of them thoroughly enjoyed their visit and can't wait to go back. So in the end, both resorts seem to be benefiting from Harry Potter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 To be honest, I kind of look at the "good year" Universal had was kind of like that one year where Sega beat out Nintendo (back in the 16-bit days when Sonic was released, and Genesis was the short-reigning king). Sega needed to keep doing what they did, but instead they just fumbled and screw things up. Now look where they are compared to Nintendo. I feel exactly the same way about Universal. While I liked their product "as is" before Harry Potter, it did give them a "boost" that they needed....now, the question is, will what they follow up with continue to sustain that boost or not. I never looked at this as a "Disney vs. Universal" thing, I felt it was more about "Universal versus their own expectations", and for once they finally well exceeded those goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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